For more than a quarter of a century North-East farmers knew who to call if they had a mole problem. Jim McTaggart marks the death of country life character Harry Addison

HARRY Addison was reckoned to be one of the finest mole catchers the North-East has ever seen.

For a quarter of a century, he was a familiar sight driving through the country lanes of Teesdale in his blue Reliant Robin three-wheeler van heading to his next assignment.

And when he had to give up driving, farmers desperate for his services used to personally collect him in their cars.

Mr Addison's reputation was legendary.

If a farmer had a mole problem that couldn't be solved any other way, they turned to him.

Although he never gave away his secrets, Mr Addison once confided that he sometimes didn't wash his hands for days at a time - because the sweet smell of soap gave him away to the cunning moles.

Yesterday, the farming community paid tribute to Mr Addison following his death at the age of 84.

The wily countryman was reckoned to have trapped more than 40,000 moles in the past 25 years in fields around Barnard Castle, County Durham.

He travelled all over the Teesdale area in his three wheeler, answering calls from desperate farmers whose grazing land was being badly damaged by burrowing creatures.

He started keeping a record of his catches in a red notebook, and reached a total of 34,000 before he grew tired of counting, several years ago.

His brother, Stan, said yesterday: "He went on catching a lot more moles after that and must have gone well past the 40,000 mark. He was known everywhere as the best in the region.

"He had a certain knack of setting his steel traps just right, but he never let anyone else into his secret.

"I was fairly good at trapping them for a while, but he was far better. He became a legend."

Mr Addison spent his working life on Lune Head Farm, in Lunedale, where his main interest was rearing Swaledale sheep. He caught moles in his spare time, but as his fame spread he was called to other parts of the dale.

When he retired to live with relatives in Middleton-in-Teesdale, he devoted even more time to moles - and often refused to wash his hands for days at a time during busy periods.

His brother said: "He felt the smell of soap scared the moles away, so his hands were often black with dirt. He didn't mind that because it helped to make his efforts successful."

Mr Addison's sister-in-law, Betty, said: "Harry never smoked, drank or swore. He never married, because his sole interests were his sheep and moles. He really was a wonderful character."

Mr Addison gave up driving some years ago, but farmers called to collect him in their cars and took him home after he did their clearing. He was usually paid a modest fee, but often did the job for nothing.

Phil Barber, secretary of the NFU in Teesdale, said yesterday: "Moles are a massive problem because of the damage they do to grazing land. Expert mole catchers are hard to find, so Harry will be sorely missed."

The funeral will be at Middleton in Teesdale Parish Church on Friday, at 11.30am